EA: Battlefield Will Dethrone CoD In 2-3 Years

by Mike Bendel on August 19, 2011 @ 5:07 pm


Can Call of Duty and Battlefield co-exist? EA doesn’t think so. While Activision has welcomed competition from the Battlefield 3 publisher, with the likes of CoD community manager Robert Bowling going as far to praise BF3, EA continues to take pot shots at the CoD brand. The latest stint in this war of words comes from EA corporate communications head Jeff Brown, who reportedly told IndustryGamers that he expects CoD to drop off the grid entirely in the next 2-3 years.

However, Brown’s exact words were much more cutthroat. He likened the series’ fate to Activision’s other franchises, such as Tony Hawk and Guitar Hero, both of which have been shelved for the foreseeable future. Here’s the full quote:

Welcome to the big leagues Eric — I know you’re new in the job but someone should have told you this is an competitive industry.

“You’ve got every reason to be nervous. Last year Activision had a 90 share in the shooter category. This year, Battlefield 3 is going to take you down to 60 or 70. At that rate, you’ll be out of the category in 2-3 years. If you don’t believe me, go to the store and try to buy a copy of Guitar Hero or Tony Hawk.

While the mudslinging may be entertaining, one wonders if EA should just let the game do the talking.

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Comments
Abe Froeman says:

Poppycock.

Robby says:

Maybe, I mean I already gotten bored of black ops and it hasn't even been a year since it came out.

But I think the Modern Warfare spinoff has potential to keep the CoD name on top.

Moose says:

"Drop off the grid" is a little extreme. Maybe the market will lose interest a tad, but I doubt even that will happen considering they are refreshing the franchise on a yearly basis.

skparasite says:

EA does realize by saying all this shit, if BF3 doesn't end up being as orgasmic as they are leading us on, they could be brewing quite the shit storm.

Of course this is all null and void if BF3 does fantastic...

I don't really like neither CoD or BF (or shooters in general), but all this mudslinging from EA (especially with Activision responding that way), makes them look really bad and desperate. :/

Man I used to love EA, but lately with all their decisions...

Robby says:

They have been taking shots at CoD from before Bad Company 2 dropped.

Adiuvo says:

At least back then it was more subtle. Flat out attacking MW3 is just bad form.

Craig Fairfax says:

I could see COD losing steam in the future, but I don't see Battlefield being the cause of it. They don't even share the same fan base.

Abe Froeman says:

That's an excellent point. I play Black Ops a lot during the week after work typically around 8PM EST, and there is routinely 600,000 - 700,000 players online just on the 360. That's mostly US players online and that fan base isn't drying up.

BlackSheep says:

im sure cod has peaked its not going any better from now on

x3sphere says:

I think MW3 will top all previous CoD launches. Activision already said pre-orders were tracking above Black Ops, iirc. When it transitions to the next rounds of consoles is when we might see it losing steam.

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